I think I’ve seen other posts on this area before, but wanted to provide feedback on my experience there. If you google it, you will inevitably find the WI DNR webpage description and somewhere I found a decent map and some photos posted.

Anyway, I went there twice; once in the fall and once in the summer. It contains four small but beautiful lakes in a state natural area that is within the Northern Highland State Forest. All lakes are connected by short easy portages. The shorelines are densely forested with a good mix of pine, aspen and birch. Probably a fair bit of spruce and fir but mostly noticed the old growth white pine here and there. I did see some logged areas as I drove in and some away from the shoreline. There is also a good bit of relief in the land that adds a pleasurable dynamic.

We camped for both trips at the far northern lake; I believe it is called Oberlin Lake. We figured it would be the most remote/private….. but that is not so. There is a two-track serving that camp site and we had visitors. Many visitors! It appears to be a known fishing spot for locals. It seemed rather silly for us to paddle three lakes and make two portages when locals just drive right up. So that kind of sucked.

The other camp sites within the SNA did not appear to have two-track access accept the most southern lake. Also, Hwy 70 noise is pretty much a constant, although tolerable.

All-in-all, if you are looking for a quick, easy get away, the Bittersweet is a mighty pretty spot for pleasant paddling and a sence of isolation. I would recommend the campsite on Smith Lake. I think it’s called Loon Song or something corny like that. I think that site would almost guarantee no walk-in or drive-up visitors.

Thanks for the info. Have done some tripping in and near the Whisker Wilderness, same Hwy 70 issue if the wind is calm or blowing the right way.

This was the first place I took my wife canoe camping. We camped on Smith Lake, the site is called Loon Song. It was Labor Day weekend with a full moon and the site lived up to its name. There must have been a loon on each of those small lakes and they called back and forth to each other for hours. We have talked about going back there, but the road to the parking lot isn't suited for vehicles with low clearance. Our old Chevy cavalier scrapped in a few places, the hybrid we bought would never make it. That was 4-5 years ago, so they might have worked on the "road" since then. I agree that the highway noise was nearly constant, that or the sounds of boats on the bigger lakes in the area. There was a good amount of traffic from day trippers in kayaks, but in the evening we had Smith Lake to ourselves.

If you are thinking of going back, I wouldn't sweat the road. We made it very easily in a minivan.